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Does Florida have enough doctors for a Medicaid expansion?

About 15 million Floridians have health insurance today, and Obamacare, which requires most adults to have coverage by January, could add as many as 2.5 million more. One million would come through a potential expansion of the federal-state Medicaid program that Scott announced this week he was backing. The others would be the result of new mandates requiring employers and individuals to have insurance or be fined.

Currently, the state has 44,804 doctors, but about 5,600 of them are expected to retire in the next five years. And even though Florida has opened three new medical schools in the past dozen years, the state isn’t producing as many doctors as it needs. Scott’s budget this year has $80 million to fund programs to train 700 new residents a year, in hopes they’ll remain in the state.

Of all patients, people covered by Medicaid may have the hardest time finding a doctor; only 59 percent of the state’s physicians are taking new Medicaid patients, according to a Kaiser Health News study.

only 59 percent of the state’s physicians are taking new Medicaid patients, according to a Kaiser Health News study.

That’s a high number and I’d the majority are primarily primary-care providers like Ob-Gyns. Here in Texas for every pregnant patient who has any type coverage other than cash, 75 percent of pregnant patients in the state are covered by a medicaid program and you as a provider can accept it or you can go hungry.

Dermatologists and Plastic Surgeons, for example, are never going to take medicaid. Most of them never accepted HMO payment back in the hey-day of those. Even dentists are accepting medicaid just to stay above water in today’s economy.

They’ll be forced to take Medicaid patients or lose their privilege to serve any government-insured patients. The federal government will not be denied.

Rational Thought on February 24, 2013 at 10:10 AM

Actually, they have been laying the ground work to have federal medical licenses rather than state licenses with the obvious potential of making taking care of patients a provider does not wish to a requisite for a license.

No problem. Lower the bar a little, and then mass-import all the providers that you need from the third world. Plus, you only have to pay ’em peanuts and dangle a green card in front of them. Of course, their medical knowledge and skills may be a little shaky, but what the hey, they’re cheap.

It’s always been a requisite for hospital privileges. If you want to pick and choose your patients you have to have a 100% office practice.

Marcus on February 24, 2013 at 10:34 AM

Only for patients in the hospital. No hospital can tell an independent provider or group of providers what patients they see electively in their office which is where most patients are seen in most practices.

No problem. Lower the bar a little, and then mass-import all the providers that you need from the third world. Plus, you only have to pay ‘em peanuts and dangle a green card in front of them. Of course, their medical knowledge and skills may be a little shaky, but what the hey, they’re cheap.

Works well – just look at the National Health in Britain.

bofh on February 24, 2013 at 10:54 AM

We already have that. Expect more.

Back when we had the restrictive HMO models of managed care..
they were primarily the only ones in-network to choose from. Small list. (Medicaid now)
You sat for hours to see the doc(quadruple bookings) and you were treated like cattle. The future.